


L'Ouverture

by SomeCereals



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/M, Snow White - Freeform, honhonhon FRENCH
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeCereals/pseuds/SomeCereals
Summary: A hunter’s duty is to his patron—but he also finds that he has a duty to his heart.
Relationships: Rook Hunt/Yuu, Yuu/Rook Hunt
Comments: 13
Kudos: 89





	L'Ouverture

**Author's Note:**

> Ghost Bride event has me going feral for Rook. Time to make him suffer.

Rook’s orders were clear—crystal.

“ _Kill Yuu, and bring me their heart as proof._ ”

It should have been simple for a dangerous man like him. One hit and done, just like all the others Vil had ordered him to end. Rook lived for the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline pumping in his veins as he stalked his prey.

He was not opposed to carrying out such dirty jobs if it was in service of his queen.

And yet now, standing before Yuu, arrow nocked, Rook feels his resolve waver. His usual adrenaline rush has not greeted him.

He has them cornered against the trunk of an old, towering tree. Pinned, like all of his other targets. Yuu trembles against the gnarled bark at their back and the solemn hunter in front of them.

 _One hit is all it takes,_ he reminds himself.

“You don’t have to do this,” Yuu pleads softly, tears in their eyes, “you’re _better_ than that, Rook.”

He clenches his jaw. “I have my orders, ( _ma chérie/mon cheri_ ) _.”_

Rook wills himself to raise his weapon, to pull the string back, to let his arrow fly right into Yuu’s chest--right for the heart. It is _always_ the heart Vil is after. The most vital organ of all.

Yuu whimpers, her entire body shaking violently. Sobs escape from their pretty lips, tears trickle down their soft cheeks. They are so defenseless, wallowing in the shadow of a great oak--and in the shadow of a hunter.

Yuu is beauty incarnate, Rook realizes, a beauty too innocent and free spirited to pluck from the world.

His expression softens.

He cannot do it.

He cannot hurt them.

“But alas, I am not immune to your charms!” Rook cries with a sigh. He lowers his bow, letting it fall to the forest floor. His quiver soon follows. “Oh, how piteous! What a cruel fate I have been cursed with--to choose between serving my sovereign and saving my beloved!”

Their eyes widen. “Rook...”

“( _Ma chérie/Mon cheri._ )” He spreads his arms out--warm, welcoming. Inviting. “Come to me, my songbird.”

Yuu hesitates. They do not fear a surprise dagger punching into their gut--they fear being ensnared in his embrace once more.

Their romance is a doomed one.

Yet Yuu still finds themselves gravitating toward him, one shy step at a time. They cannot help it--they are enchanted by his golden hair, his emerald eyes, his coy smile...

“Ahh, there we are,” Rook laughs, wrapping an arm around them--the other cupping their cheek. His fingers coax away their tears. “My little bird has returned to its nest~”

He smells like the woods--of a mischievous spring breeze sprinkled with pine, of the sun and the earth melding together. _It is merciful that he smells like anything at all,_ Yuu realizes. A hunter typically disguises their scent, to avoid their prey catching on to their presence.

“You’re cruel,” Yuu mumbles into his hand.

“It would have been far more cruel of me if I had driven that arrow through your heart without any hesitation.”

“This is worse,” Yuu insists. “You’re...you’re too kind. It will only make it hurt that much more when you do kill me.”

His brow creases. “Do not say such ugly things! You are alive now, and that is all that matters!”

“Vil won’t stop until I’m dead. Even if you let me go...he will send others.”

“I will not allow it.” Rook’s gaze becomes serious. “( _Ma chérie/Mon cheri_ ).. _._ you must flee. Run, run, and never look back.”

“But...but what about us? What about _you_?” they whisper.

“Forget about me, this place, your past...start a new life in a kingdom far, far away.” Rook clutches onto Yuu’s hands, gripping so tightly that it marks their skin. “And be happy—please. For _me_.”

“I--”

Rook does not give them time to argue. In a flash, he has removed his jacket slung it around Yuu’s shoulders.

“This will keep you warm for the night. There are Madols, should you need them, in the left pocket. It is not much, but it should be enough to purchase a loaf of bread, and a night at a cheap inn in the next kingdom over. You must find work at once if you hope to survive on your own.”

He smiles tenderly, running a hand across your cheek. “And, as much as this pains me to say, you must find a way to change this lovely face of yours. Cosmetics, magic, whatever you can afford. Vil may very well put out a bounty for someone matching your physical description.”

Yuu’s hand find his--and they hold it gently. “I can’t...I can’t do this. You’re doing so much--you’re _risking_ so much--for me.”

“I would do more if I could.” He pulls his hand away and steps back. “Now run, my love. Run--and remember, do not look back. I will cover your tracks for you. You need only concern yourself with your own safety and wellbeing.”

“Rook...” Yuu moves toward him, and he retreats. They stop in their tracks, wrapping his jacket tighter around themselves--the fabric, it smells like him, and it protects them from the cold and the creeping darkness. “Thank you. Thank you so, _so_ much. I...I love you.”

“ _Je t'aime,_ ” comes Rook’s soft response. “Be well and live long, my songbird.”

They exchange sad smiles.

They say their final farewells.

And they part ways, plunging into opposite ends of the woods.

* * *

“...Back so soon?”

“The job was but a trifle,” Rook says lightly.

“The heart,” His queen--Vil--demands. “You have procured it?”

He nods, kneeling before him and presenting a small, ornate box with a flourish. It reeks of iron and flesh.

With a triumphant smirk, Vil steps forward and plucks the container’s lid open. The foul odor within becomes even stronger--death envelops the room.

Rook holds his breath and focuses on the floor.

Vil’s eyes suddenly become venomous slivers, his upper lip curling in disgust. He swats the box out of Rooks hands—and it, along with its contents, clatter to the floor.

“Do you think I am so readily fooled!?!” Vil shrieks, cheeks tinged red with anger. “I know a deer heart when I see one. My eyes are not so easily deceived!”

Rook keeps his head lowered, staring at the ground. “ _Excusez moi, Roi du Poison_...I did not wish to disappoint you--and so I thought it fitting to bring you _some_ sort of heart as a token of my undying loyalty.”

“Where are they?!” Vil demands, his voice growing shrill. “ _Where is Yuu_?!”

“I...I do not know. They are skilled--they fled from me. I was not able to track them down.”

“Oh, _please_! You expect me to believe such hogwash?!” Vil folds his arms. “No one can evade my most skilled huntsman--not even I. This was _deliberate._ ”

His stomach sinks.

“Rook. You know exactly what you have done, you little weasel.” Vil’s voice is ice cold, like poison flooding one’s veins. “Do you know what the price to pay for crossing me is?”

Rook is quiet. His eyes burn a hole in the floor.

“An eye for an eye, a life for a life. You will offer your heart to me in place of theirs. Vil announces with a hiss. “You understand, don’t you? You will be put to death for treason.”

He knew this was coming--he had resigned himself to his fate the moment he dropped his weapons in the woods.

“... _Oui, Roi du Poison_.” Rook brings himself to slowly meet Vil’s gaze. “May I be so bold as to ask for a few moments to say my farewells to my loved ones?”

“Hmm. Very well.” He waves a manicured hand at the hunter. “You are dismissed.”

Rook rises to his feet and bows as deep as he can. “ _Merci beaucoup_.”

He turns and begins making his way out of the throne room.

He would have made it beyond the doors, had it not been for the searing pain that blooms in his chest.

Rook dares to look down.

A hand has punctured his torso, dagger-like fingernails digging into his still beating heart. Crimson rivers run down the front of his shirt. Rook wheezes, scarlet gushing from his lips.

“Your last moments are up,” Vil declares snippily. “I dislike having to dirty my hands--but traitors such as yourself deserve nothing but a swift and certain death.”

He rips Rook’s heart out in one clean motion--and the hunter doubles over onto the floor. Vil sneers, kicking him while he is down, high heels biting. His regal face is flecked with stray blood--his entire hand is painted scarlet.

Vil clicks his tongue in disapproval as he watches a pool of blood rapidly collect under Rook’s limp body. “Those stains will be so troublesome to remove,” he sighs. Between Vil’s drenched fingers, the hunter’s heart glistens.

A fresh kill, a lamb sent to the slaughter.

His heart in exchange for Yuu’s.

 _At least,_ Rook tells himself, as his vision fades to black, _my songbird is flying freely._

* * *

Rook’s carcass is dumped into the woods.

Left for the wolves to feast on.

Yuu is never able to properly thank him. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed reading this piece, please check out my Twisted Wonderland writing blog and consider sending in a request of your own (though currently I am not accepting new requests)! I usually only post my longer pieces to AO3 (1000+ words), but you can find a lot of my shorter one shots on the blog.
> 
> Link is: https://raven-at-the-writing-desk.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you for your time~


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